Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1

gunsn. the biceps. Look at the guns on
that guy! He lifts weights to build up
his guns.


gunzel-butt[“g@nzlb@t] n. a strange-look-
ing person, usually a male. (Underworld.)
Bruno told the gunzel-butt where to get
off. Rocko is no gunzel-butt. He’s a
thinker.


guru[“guru] 1. n. an experienced LSD user
who guides someone else on a trip. 
Bart volunteered to serve as a guru, but
he never showed up. A guru can be a big
help. 2. n. a stockbroker or other finan-
cial adviser. (Securities markets.) My
guru says to sell all my bonds. My guru
just went bankrupt. 3. n. a psychiatrist; a
psychotherapist. I go to this guru who
gets a lot of money just to listen. I’ve
started using my mirror for a guru. It’s
cheaper.


gussied up[“g@sid...] mod. dressed up in
one’s best clothing. (Folksy.) She was
all gussied up in her finest. I like to get
gussied up and go out on the town.


gusto[“g@sto] 1. n. beer. Can you stop
at the filling station and get some gusto? 
How about another tube of gusto? 2. in.
to drink beer. Don’t you ever do any-
thing but gusto? Let’s go out and gusto
all night!


gut[g@t] 1. n. the belly; the intestines. 
What a gut that guy has. Tom poked Bill
right in the gut. 2. mod. basic; funda-
mental. This is a gut issue, and we have
to deal with it now. We are not dealing
with what I would call one of the gut mat-
ters of the day. 3. mod. [of a college or
high school course] easy. That’s a gut
course. Nothing to it. I won’t take any-
more gut economics courses. Even those are
hard. 4. n. an easy course in school. 
That course is a gut. If it’s a gut, it’s for
me.


gutbucket[“g@tb@kIt] 1. n. a chamber pot,
especially one used in a prison cell. (See
also gash bucket.) You got something
around here I can use as a gutbucket? 
I don’t want any gutbucket around here.
2.n. a toilet. Where’s the gutbucket
around here? The kid tried to f lush his


stash down the gutbucket. 3. n. the stom-
ach. Hey, your gutbucket’s getting sort
of big, isn’t it? Sam poked Pete right in
the gutbucket. 4. n. a fat person, usually
a man. Harry is getting to be a real gut-
bucket. Look at the gutbucket waddling
down the street. 5. n. a cheap saloon; a
low tavern. Old Jed is probably stuck in
some gutbucket someplace, talking his
head off. The pinstriper needed a drink
so bad he stopped at one of those gutbuck-
ets on Maple Street. 6. n. an earthy style
of music. I’d like to hear some good old-
fashioned gutbucket. You don’t hear
much gutbucket in public places these days.
gutless wondern. a totally spineless per-
son. George, don’t be such a gutless won-
der! Stand up for your rights! Here
comes that gutless wonder, Martin.
gut reaction (to something) n. a basic
and immediate response to something. 
Well, my gut reaction is quite negative. 
Her gut reaction to the plan is basically a
good one.
guts[g@ts] 1. n. courage; bravado. Man,
she’s got guts! It takes guts to do some-
thing like that. 2. n. the belly; the in-
testines. Ted poked Frank right in the
guts. I’ve got some kind of pain in the
guts. 3. n. the inner workings of any-
thing. There’s something wrong in the
guts of this clock. My tape recorder needs
all new guts. 4. n. the essence of some-
thing. Let’s discuss the real guts of this
issue. The guts of your proposal are
really easy to understand.
gutsy[“g@tsi] mod. courageous; feisty. 
She sure is a gutsy young thing. She is
not gutsy. Ernie’s acting sort of gutsy to-
day. What happened?
guyn. a fellow; a man or boy. (Not neces-
sarily male in the plural.) Hey you guys,
let’s go! When you guys finish getting
your makeup on, we can go back to the
guys.
guzzeryGo to guzzlery.
guzzle[“g@zl] 1. tv. & in. to drink alcohol
in great quantities. Stop guzzling for a
while and pay attention. Don’t guzzle
all that beer, or you’ll turn into a guzzle-

guns

Free download pdf